5:00 pm: Point Blank has learned that Butch Goring has been hired by MSG Network and approved by the Islanders as the new color commentator on the team’s television broadcasts. Goring suceeds Billy Jaffe, whose four-year run in the job ended when the Islanders would not grant their approval to a contract negotiated between Jaffe’s agent and MSG Network, the employer.

Since joining the network in 2007, Goring has received increased responsibilities in the MSG studio and as a sideline analyst during select Islanders games. No word yet whom MSG Network will hire to take the four-time Stanley Cup winner’s place in the Islanders’ chair on “Hockey Night Live” and on game broadcasts. It does not appear that Denis Potvin, the Islanders’ dynasty captain who is now based out of Ottawa, is in the mix for a regular role.

Two weeks prior to the opening of training camp, the Islanders have yet to announce their plans for radio broadcasts. Last season, the team made a financial-based move to simulcasts. After criticism in the media and from their fan base, there has been some discussion about returning to a traditional radio broadcast. If they do, hopefully invaluable Islanders broadcast mainstay Chris King will have a central role.